1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hangers arranged to be secured to hollow doors or wall panels and is more specifically concerned with improvements in hangers of the type that are designed for application to hollow doors without the need for tools and causing minimum damage to the door or panel.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
A very popular type of door used in homes, offices and other buildings is the hollow wooden door comprising thin front and rear spaced apart wooden panels, for example, about 1/8" thick, which are joined to a wooden frame, for example, having a thickness of about 15/8", so that the front and rear panels are spaced apart by the thickness of the frame. Doors of this type are widely used, are of excellent quality but have the drawback that it is very difficult if not impossible to reliably attach a hook or other hanging fixture to the door, mainly because of the thinness of the panels and all work must be done from the exterior surface of the panel since there is no access to the inner surface. Straight nail types of fixtures quickly pull down and out because the 1/8" or so thickness is incapable of holding the nail securely. The same applies to screw type hangers.
Similar problems arise when trying to secure nail or screw type hangers to wall panels which are attached to the walls of a room by nailing or adhesives. Usually a network of firring strips are first applied to the existing wall and then the wall panels are fixed to the firring strips by nails or adhesives. Thus, the panels for the most part are spaced away from the existing wall by the thickness of the firring strips which usually is about 1/2" or so. Nails or screws driven into the panels for attaching hanging devices soon work loose permitting the hanging device and object hung on it to fall.
This has been a continuing problem and much time, thought and effort has been expended to develop a reliable hanger for hollow wooden doors and wall panels with little or no success.
A common fault and disadvantage inherent in hangers of the conventional type resides in the tendency of the hanger to periodically move laterally when weight is put upon it. This lateral movement causes the supporting hole in the door panel to become enlarged thereby reducing the anchoring capacity of the hanger. As a result, the hanger is often so loose that it is unreliable and cannot be depended upon to properly support the weight which is put upon it. Another fault and disadvantage inherent in hangers of the conventional type resides in the tendency of the hanger to pivot in the supporting hole when weight is put upon it, causing the supporting hole in the door or panel to become enlarged thereby reducing the anchoring capacity of the hanger.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,723,815 and 3,300,173 disclose picture hangers anchored by conventional nails cooperating with disc shaped body portions whose rear surfaces are covered with pressure sensitive adhesive. These hangers utilize a conventional nail, and do not have the capacity to support as much weight as the subject hanger utilizing a needle point penetrator cooperating with a foot portion to provide for added support. The hangers of these patents are subject to failure by reason of the nail pulling out of the panel or cutting vertically into the panel until the nail is in suitable position for pulling out by action of gravity.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 241,991; 1,445,372; 2,789,783 and 3,219,302 variously teach hangers which utilize a face plate or ferrule abutting the wall adjacent the hanger end, but do not provide for pressure sensitive adhesives or any other reliable means to hold the hanger against pivotal or lateral movement on the wall, nor do they provide increased bearing surface for the foot portion. The first three named patents utilize oversized holes. U.S. Pat. No. 1,445,372 is especially unreliable because an upward force can easily pivot the hook out of position and result in unpositioning the ferrule. The ferrules of the other two patents simply serve to cover up the hole in the wall and provide no substantial bearing support for the hook.
Other types of hooks are of the peg board type which require predrilled holes. Such hooks are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,094,892; 3,392,949; 3,718,101; 3,954,243 and 4,103,854. None of these hooks are suitable for use on hollow doors or wall panels because they are temporary in nature and designed for easy removal. Hooks requiring access to both sides of the panel are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 947,489 and 1,665,785.